**Hopes rose for an easing of flight bans imposed across Europe due to Icelandic volcano ash, with the news that Britain will reopen some airports on Tuesday.**Germany’s aviation authority also granted Lufthansa permission to make 50 passenger flights back to Germany.
As airline losses spiralled over $1bn (0.74 euros; £0.65m), carrier chiefs stepped up calls that they be allowed to decide when it was safe to fly.
The crisis, now in its fifth day, has affected millions of passengers.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh became the latest airline boss to call the flight bans unnecessary.
He was aboard a BA 747 that went on a test flight through parts of the restricted zone on Sunday.
Mr Walsh said analysis of the plane found no ill effects due to atmospheric ash from southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano.
The flight bans were imposed amid fears the ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles - could damage aircraft engines.
Britain’s air traffic control body said later on Monday that airspace in Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland would reopen on Tuesday.
The UK is also sending three Royal Navy warships to help pick up stranded passengers from Spain and Channel ports.
Lufthansa, meanwhile, was allowed to carry about 15,000 passengers to Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf airports from the Far East, Africa and the Americas.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) earlier lambasted European leaders for their inaction, calling the travel chaos a mess and an embarrassment.
Iata chief Giovanni Bisignani said: “The decision that Europe has made is with no risk assessment, no consultation, no co-ordination, no leadership.”
Airspace closures were costing airlines $200m a day in lost revenue, he said.
The European Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, said earlier there could be no compromise on safety.
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